Travel to the World’s Most Exciting Festivals

By Jane Pinzhoffer

Every country has its own culture and traditions and celebrates this uniqueness with fetes, fiestas, and festivals. Some are steeped in centuries of tradition, some are just weird and wonderful, and here are some that are so exhilarating visitors from around the world plan their vacation around them.

Rio Carnaval

The world’s biggest party, held every year before Lent, sees two million revelers per day take to the streets to be part of this mass celebration that dates back to 1723. The Samba Parade with magnificent floats, Carnival balls with daring costumes, and an abundance of street parties where dancing, drinking, and eating are the main attractions are held in every corner of the city. If you’re planning on attending Carnival in 2019 you will need to plan well in advance.

Chinese New Year

This centuries old tradition is a time to honour gods and ancestors. Chinese families gather for a celebration dinner and clean house to sweep away bad fortune. Also known as the Spring Festival, this gala of fireworks and lion dances takes place on a different day each year, but normally falls between January 21 and February 20. You don’t have to go to mainland China, as Chinese New Year is feted in every city that has a Chinatown, from London to Australia.

Saint Patrick’s Day

Celebrated in more countries than any other national festival, Saint Patrick’s Day, commemorates Ireland’s most notable patron saint and the arrival of Christianity to Ireland. Wearing green, parades, and an abundance of alcohol consumption are actually more prevalent in other countries than they are in Ireland where the merriment is more subdued.

Mardi Gras

There’s always something happening in New Orleans, but it’s never more exciting than during Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, traditionally held the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday and the first day of Lent. Expect dozens of parades, a kaleidoscope of colourful costumes, and one of the world’s biggest and wildest parties.

La Tomatina

The most unique festival on this list is held in the town of Buñol in Spain. Although the party starts earlier in the week with music, parades, dancing, and fireworks, the main event is held on the last Wednesday in August. The firing of a cannon signals the beginning of the world’s largest tomato fight. Approximately 30,000 people take to the streets armed with over one hundred metric tons of over-ripe tomatoes.

Oktoberfest

Each year more than 6 million people visit Munich, Germany from late September to the first weekend in October for the world’s largest beer festival. Although Munich has plenty of cuisine and culture to indulge in, this Bavarian festival is all about the beer, with some 6 million litres consumed during the festival.

Boryeong Mud Festival

What was originally a clever marketing ploy by a South Korean cosmetics company to get potential customers to actually feel for themselves the benefits of their line of beauty products made with mud from the Boryeong mud flats, today attracts millions of visitors from all over the world. The Boryeong Mud Festival features mud slides, mud skiing, mud massage, a giant mud bath, and even a mud prison.

Carnival of Venice

Declared a public celebration in 1296, Venice’s Carnival was without boundaries, a time when everyone was free to do whatever they desired, due largely, to the anonymity of wearing a mask. Attending one of Italy’s biggest festivals today is like stepping back in time. Masked revellers in lavish costumes parade in the streets and in St. Mark’s Square, creating an enchanting atmosphere in this magical floating city.

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

Held each year in early October, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta began with a mere 13 balloons in 1972. Today it’s the world’s largest balloon festival, mass launching approximately 750 mammoth-sized balloons over this 9-day event that fill the skies above Albuquerque’s Balloon Fiesta Park with vibrant and whimsical inflatable giants.

Glastonbury Festival

The world’s largest open-air music and performing arts festival is held near Pilton in Somerset, England. The 5-day festival is attended by about 175,000 people who come to see headlining pop and rock artists as well as dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret, and other music acts.

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